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Cricket for visually-impaired being ignored by B.C.C.I. says A.C.B.I. - Volume 4 Issue 7: Disability News and Information Service for India

Cricket for visually-impaired being ignored by B.C.C.I. says A.C.B.I.

D.N.I.S.
News Network- While the immensely rich Board of Cricket Control in
India (B.C.C.I.) continues to spend astronomical amount of money on promotion of
Indian Cricket, the Association of Cricket for the Blind in India (A.C.B.I.) has
once again raised the issue of lack of financial support and recognition for
blind cricket.

The neglect by
B.C.C.I. is only indicative of the general lack of understanding of the need and
importance of supporting disabled sportsperson and events involving disabled
people. In the specific case of blind cricket, the discrimination is most
glaring as the country has already hosted two World Cups for visually impaired
cricket teams.

These
tournaments generated great enthusiasm among public at large and were covered
extensively by media in 1998 and 2002. But the government and Sports Authority
of India (S.A.I.) failed to proactively engage in this cause of blind cricket.

“It was tough
to manage such a huge event (Indo-Pak blind cricket series). We have been trying
our best to get the sport recognised, but lukewarm
feedback from B.C.C.I. is what we have received so far,” P.S. Naidu, senior
manager of A.C.B.I., was quoted as saying to a newspaper.

Citing
comparisons with the government support and financial sops that the cricket for
visually impaired has received in Pakistan and England, he laments: “It seems to
narrate a poignant tale of discrimination and indifference towards
visually-impaired cricketers in India.”

“We have also
sought help from S.A.I. so that our plea gets heard by the B.C.C.I., but it
hasn’t happened,” adds George Abraham, Chairman of A.C.B.I.

This story of
step-motherly attitude towards sports involving disabled people is not merely
restricted to an unsupportive government bureaucracy, but also extends to the
corporate sector that doles out mega bucks for events involving non-disabled.